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Policy delay hikes communication costs

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 20 May 2015
End-users have for years been paying the price for the lack of direction when it comes to network deployment.
End-users have for years been paying the price for the lack of direction when it comes to network deployment.

Government has yet to take decisive action on a policy that should make the deployment of communications infrastructure more seamless - and consumers are paying the price.

SA's telecoms service providers unanimously feel the onerous process involved in deploying infrastructure is a major obstacle to rapid rollout and - ultimately - lowering the cost to communicate, a cause government itself has advocated.

However, policy around the rapid deployment of electronic communications facilities is yet to see the light of day - nine years after the Electronic Communications Act (ECA) made it incumbent for the telecoms minister to instigate a process.

Last year, the Electronic Communications Amendment Act put a timeline to that obligation, and changed the requirement for guidelines in to a more solid one, for regulation. According to the amendment, minister Siyabonga Cwele was supposed to have finalised policy and policy directions by tomorrow.

But, with no indication from the minister or the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) that there have been consultations or that a draft is even ready, the deadline is set to be missed.

Owner of Ellipsis Regulatory Solutions, Dominic Cull, says while missing the deadline will have no real consequences for Cwele or the DTPS from a legal perspective, there are continuing consequences for the deployment of infrastructure and the cost to communicate.

DTPS spokesperson Siya Qoza says Cwele will outline "all the major policy announcements" at tomorrow's budget vote, but declined to comment on this specific issue.

Historical hitch

Cull points out this issue was explicitly recognised by Parliament in the drafting of the ECA in 2005.

"What was intended was to create a one-stop shop that would facilitate obtaining these permissions and approvals, shortening the time and expense involved before deployment could commence.

"[This would be] undoubtedly a logical response to an extant problem which, if not remedied, has the effect of entrenching a higher cost of deployment and therefore a higher base for the cost to communicate in SA."

About four years - and three ministers - ago, late communications minister Roy Padayachie already alluded to problems caused by a lack of direction around rapid deployment of electronic communications facilities.

Speaking about the need for a rapid deployment plan in order to meet SA's ambitious goal of 100% broadband penetration by 2020, Padayachie said: "The problem we notice in the economy is weak regulation and weak framework, which operators that wish to grow the economy have to deal with, and it's no more evident than when we deal with the subject of broadband."

Mongezi Tshongweni, regulatory director at Internet Solutions, says the finalisation of a national rapid deployment of electronic communications facilities guidelines is "vital and long overdue".

Internet Solutions says obtaining the necessary approvals for deployment can take anything from six months to a year, depending on the municipality from which the approval is required. "The financial impact can be severe."

Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman says, to this day, obtaining permissions and approvals is "a major headache" that inhibits the rollout of infrastructure. "[This] in turn has an impact on the cost of investment and ultimately the cost of services."

In October last year, during a hearing into the still pending buyout of Neotel by Vodacom, Neotel CEO Sunil Joshi said the rapid deployment of electronic communications was one of the critical issues the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) still needed to address, as this was affecting competition in the sector.

Cull points out, while ICASA did try its hand at tackling guidelines around this a couple years ago, the initiative failed to actually get off the ground. "It is not the regulator's job at this stage anyway. Coordination at government level is what is ultimately needed now."

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